The Ridge at Fox Run

Flooding in El Paso County

Development causes flooding

This article came from the January 31, 2000 issue of The Gazette

County blamed for flood's severity

By Pam Zubeck/The Gazette
Edited by Jim Borden; Headline by Ron Dawson

FALCON - The flooding was so bad it carved deep ravines in flat cow pastures and turned cozy recreation rooms into swamps.

Rainfall totals made 1999 the wettest in 100 years. But a state geologist and some residents in this semi-rural enclave say it wasn't just the rain that was the problem.

They worry new construction nearby in one of the county's hottest real estate markets intensified the deluge and not enough is being done to control the increasing runoff.

At issue are hundreds of acres that flooded last year after construction began on Woodmen Hills, a 500-acre commercial and residential subdivision north of Highway 24 at Meridian Road.

Water seeped into basements, contaminated domestic water wells, flooded septic tanks, washed out driveways and roads and carved deep gashes in cow pastures and back yards.

Twenty-five residents have filed claims - a precursor to a lawsuit - totaling $750,000 against El Paso County. They allege county officials allowed development to occur without protecting downstream property from increased runoff. They fear future development in the area will make things even worse.

"The county shouldn't have let us down this way," said Tim Dassero, whose basement flooded.

The problems raise questions about whether the county has adequately planned for growth and the impacts on other landowners, and how much blame the county should take for flood damage.

So far county officials have not acted on the claims filed late last year. They admit Woodmen Hills was approved before a regional drainage study was finished but say the developer has built drainage projects that are "above and beyond" those required. They also say it's impossible to prevent flooding from severe storms.

Drainage is a growing problem in the Pikes Peak Region. As bare, porous land is replaced with impervious rooftops and pavement, runoff is channeled to streets, ditches and streams, some of which are ill-equipped to handle the volumes.

Also, developed land can cause water tables to rise by keeping underground water from evaporating from the soil.

Severe storms exacerbate the problem. Last year, rains in April, May, June and August inundated the region.

Residents south of Highway 24 near Falcon say they'd never seen so much water gushing over roads and property until after work got going a year ago on Woodmen Hills.

Larry McLarty, who's lived on Rio Lane for 21 years, said the rains and runoff "created a river where there was none before."

Verleen Hanes, a 22-year resident, saw her backyard north of Falcon Highway become a lake. "If this was a problem, we would have sold out years ago," she said.

Dassero, who lives on Rio Road, spent weekends and holidays last year patching washed out driveways.

"I moved out here in 1995 with the intention of kicking back, watching the rabbits and enjoying life," he said. "The last year has been pure hell."

East of Chief Road, rushing waters blasted a trickling brook into a gulch 50 feet wide and 15 feet deep across Barbara Thacker's pasture.

Residents point to Colorado case law in which a judge ruled that natural drainage conditions can be altered by an upstream landowner only if water "is not sent down in a manner or a quantity to do more harm."

They also note the Colorado Geological Survey is so concerned about flooding that it recommended in December that future growth be deferred until regional drainage studies are done. The agency reviews all development proposals for El Paso County but has no authority to mandate actions.

State geologist Celia Greenman, who analyzes those proposals, said she's warned county officials for five years of critical drainage problems at Falcon.

While drainage projects would help, she wonders if the land - crisscrossed with normally dry swales and tributaries - ever can host massive subdivisions.

"I'm not sure they can engineer around everything," she said.

Residents blame the county, saying it failed to complete a regional drainage study prior to approving Woodmen Hills.

That's true. The study won't be done until April, and preliminary findings call for a large detention pond at Woodmen and Meridian roads.

That won't be built soon, though, because the county hasn't the money or the mechanism in place to collect money from future developers to fund regional drainage projects there, said John McCarty, the county's director of transportation, who oversees drainage issues.

"That's going to take us years and years and years," he said.

But McCarty noted the county makes developers provide drainage for their own subdivisions, and the Woodmen Hills developer has done more than its share.

Falcon Properties Inc. has built five detention ponds to hold runoff from Woodmen Hills as well as from developments farther north that were built in the 1970s and 1980s before drainage projects were required.

"I believe the developer has followed the county requirements - even gone beyond the requirements," McCarty said. "I believe we had in place a master plan and drainage plan that made sure they were doing it correctly."

The damaging floods came just as the developer was building the ponds, he said, so there were no bowls to catch runoff from the graded property. Now, the county and residents are at odds over whether the ponds will prevent flooding - the county says they will; residents doubt it.

Absent extensive hydrological studies, it may be impossible to say who's right.

But Commissioner Betty Beedy, who represents that area, believes the county played a role and should pay for the damage.

"I believe we bear some of the responsibility, even with the extraordinary amount of rain," she said. "We know there's a cause and effect there. Government never wants to take responsibility, and that's the problem."

Others aren't so sure.

"Nobody wants to see people canoeing down the street," said Commissioner Duncan Bremer. "But (county) people are doing the best they can." He also noted the county was not negligent because it followed a "generally accepted standard" when approving the subdivision.

Though residents want to recover damages, they're more interested in fixing the problem.

"Money isn't the issue," Hanes said. "The problem is, it continues. When spring comes, we're going to be washed out again."

McCarty said the county, which has spent $46,000 since April patching roads and replacing culverts, will continue to fix some problems.

"We won't see flooding in that location," McCarty predicted, "but that doesn't mean some other developer somewhere else might not start grading his property and get caught by a weather event and have something similar happen."

That's why Greenman, the state geologist, recommends the county:
Require holding ponds be built prior to land being graded for development.
Conduct water-table studies.
Impose a moratorium on growth around Falcon until regional drainage studies are done.

Why? Because new growth could make the problem worse, Greenman said.

She noted the Paint Brush Hills Wastewater Treatment Plant north of Falcon plans to expand to serve another 3,000 acres of home sites now in the planning stage, adding 500,000 gallons a day to streambeds. "This is a lot of water entering a drainage of a previously arid area," Greenman said. "... think about the homeowners down the road. Once you get something wrong, it's going to compound."

Some changes are in the works. County Planning Director Ken Rowberg said the county's land-use regulations will be revised later this year, including grading rules. Regional drainage studies are under way, and at least one developer is monitoring the water table. But new drainage projects are years away.

Meantime, with spring just two months off, some residents are preparing as if disaster is at their
doorstep. Hanes has posted stuffed toys atop a dike bordering her land to remind county workers not to destroy it when doing road work. Dassero is building a new house just feet from his old one but on ground 10 feet higher. Others have erected berms and installed bigger culverts.

"Wait till they get all the driveways and rooftops in place" at Woodmen Hills, said Thacker.

"It's a scary thought."

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